Electrical switch



eJuly 28, 1925.

L. J. vooRHl-:Es

ELECTRI CAL SWITCH Eile-@puy 1, 1921 1 tot:

Patented July 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEE QT. VO'ORHEES7 OF BINGHAMTON, NEVI YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL CARBON CO., INC., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRICIQL SWITCH.

Application filed J'Nuly 1, 1921. Serial No. 481,929.

To all @1J/10m t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LEE J. VooRHnns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Binghamton, in the county of Broome and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Switches, of which the following is a specification. y j

This invention relates to an electrical switch mechanism capable of being intermittently operated by hand or of' being permanently held b v mechanical means in or out of circuit closing position. The improved switch may be used in various connections, but it is particularly adapted for portable electric lights.

It is the primary object of my invention to provide a rugged and reliable switch for flashlights which are destined for hard service under adverse conditions. To this end the movable members have been made of such size and shape as to be readily grasped and operated even though the hand be numbed with cold or clad in a heavy glove. Provision is also made for preventing accidental short circuiting and the switch is so mounted as to prevent the access of water to the flashlight case should it be submerged. A

I provide a switch mechanism adapted for the purposes specified by riveting to the casing a relatively long spring arm or key, the free end of' which may be depressed to engage a contact block. A housing slidable around the casing has a cam surface adapted to hold the arm against the block and a shelf on which the arm is retained away from the block, inrespective adjusted positions. Then intermediate of these positions, the housing provides a chamber in which the end of the arm is free Atobe depressed manually to flash the lamp and to spring upward into normal position when the pressure is released.

The invention will be described vin detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-- Fig. 1 is av plan view of a flashlight provided With the improved switch mechanism,

.F ig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line YIIV--V-II of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line III-III of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the slidable member,

Fig. 5 is a. top plan view of the slidable member, and

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the plate securing the slidable meniper adjustably upon the casing.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a metal flashlight casing, provided with the outwardly flared head 2, having screw threaded engagement with the casing. A reflector 3 has an out-turned marginal flange 4 which rests upon an annular gasket 5 placed at the top of the head 2. A second gasket 6 lies upon the upper face ot' the flange. The head ring 7 is fitted upon the threaded end ot the head and electrical connection with the outer casing fr# of the focusing device. An end cap 11, having the usual spiral contact spring, is screwed on the bottoni of the casing. A

gasket 12 entends around the inside of the end cap at its base and is engaged by the end of the casing to secure a waterproof joint.

The switch mechanism comprises a contact making member of spring metal referred to generally by numeral 13. It is secured at the end adjacent the head by rivets 14, is inclined upwardly to form a springrarm 15, normally having the angular position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the extremity ofthearm, 16, lies parallel to the casing. The end portion ,16, which will be designated as the contact member, overlies a contact block 17, secured by a solid rivet 18 or equivalent fastening means, to the casing 1. The rivet passes through a longitudinal conductor strip 19 which is pressed by the flattened rivet head 20 against an insu- Vlating strip 21, resting upon the inner surengage the focusing device andn is peri forated to receive the rivets 14.Y lnsulating washers 22 and sheet'23 prevent electrical connection between the rivets 14 and the conducto-r strip.

A saddle piece 24, approximately semicircular in cross section, is mounted upon the casino' 1 for limiten rotary movement about its longitudinal axis. rlhe front of the saddle piece is bent up to form a housing 25 (Fig. 4 and 5). rl`he housing is unsymmetrical, being stamped so as to form two chambers 26 and 27, the formerphaving the greater width and altitude.' rlhe chamber 26 is not continuous at the front for the metal is cut along lines meeting at right angles to sever the tongue 28, which is not elevated to the saine extent as the top of the chamber. The tongue is bent downward at 28 and forms a shelf within the housing. Guide slots 29, adapted to extend transversely with respect to the casingi are cut in the rotatable saddle piece at the rear of the housing 25 and three circular perforations 307 31 and 32 are formed in a row adjacent the end of the saddle piece.

The slots 29 and holes 30, 31 and 32 are adapted to cooperate'with a securing and positioning member 33. (Figs. 2, 3 and 5), which is a spring metal plate curved to fit over the saddle piece at the rear of the housing 25 and having openings 34 which are vertically alined with the slots when the plate' is so positioned. Solid cylindrical rivets 35 are passed through holes in the casing, the guide slotsand the openings and the `scribed.

flat rivet ends 36 bearA against the inner face of the casing. Spacing rings 37 of slightly vgreater thickness than the saddle piece, en-

circle the rivet stems, so that when the rivetV head are expanded to clamp the parts together, the plate 33 may not be bound too tightly against the saddle piece to prevent its ready rotation. The portion .of plate 33 which overlies the lperforations 30, 31 and 32 is cut so asvtoV form a resilient tongue38, in which a. dent 397 of such shape asto it readily in the perforations, 4is formed,

The facility of operation of the switch will be lapparent from the construction de- In the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lamp may be lighted by merely grasping the casing7 as the-contact making member extends along a considerable portion of the surface and no highly localized pressure is necessary. lt is easy, also, to lock the-contact member in or out of operative positions, Thel projecting `housing presents lateral surfaces which may be readily engaged to press it to one side orthe other. Movement to the front, considering Fig. 2, will cause the dent 39 to be disengaged and to snap into the outside perforation 30, whileithe contact member 16V willbe forced down, by the camming'action of the top of chamberV 27 into permanent engagement with the contact block. 1f the housing is rotated back from the position shown in Fig. 2, the/dent will be displaced into perforation 32 and the contact member caused to rest on the shelf 23, which prevents it from being moved downwardly into circuit closing position. Y' o rlhe metal case is in electrical connection with the Zinc bottom of the lowest cell through the spiral contact spring, and current rmay pass through the case to the rivets 14 and thence to the contact arm 13. The carbon pole of the battery has no external electrical connection except the limited surface of icontact block 17. As the contact arm may be locked over and out of engagement with the block, the latter can be effectively shielded from contact with conductive bodies which might close the circuit between it and the casing.V

ln the preferred embodiment, also, the chance of accidental short circuiting is further reduced by insulating the reflector from external metal parts by means of gaskets 5 and 6, so that current cannot pass through the head to the outer lamp terminal.

The contact arm contactbloclr and slidable housing should be secured to the casing in a. waterproof manner, where the flashlight is likely to be subjected to hard service. In the form shown, this is .accomplished by engagin insulatino` members22 and 22 and Y l, o D

spacing discs 37 with the casing in a watertight manner.

The invention m.' v. of course, be applied to a non-condiictive'casing. preferably waterproofed, in which case certain of the insulating members may obviously be omitted. The invention, further. is not limited to the complete assembly of parts illustrated. nor to its application to a cylindrical surface. ,lf the housing were rigidlysecured to the casing, for example,` it would nevertheless serve a useful purpose in preventing the contact arm from being accidentally twisted or broken. The end of the contact arm may also be so proportioned with respect to the cam surface and the shelf that it may be frictionally held by those parts without the necessity for a vplate provided with means to lock the arm in adjusted position. Various other modifications and alternative arrangements may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

l claim: l

1. An electrical switch comprising a de. pressible contact making member, al contact adapted to cooperate therewith, and an unsymmetrical adjustable housing receiving a part of said member in all adjusted positions of the switch, and having a portion of sufficient altitude to permit the member to be moved into and out of engagement with the contact by adjusting said housing.

2. An electrical switch comprising a depressible contact making member, a contact adapted to cooperate therewith. and a housing movable transversely of the length of said member and having means capable of forcing the member into engagement with the Contact.

3. An electrical switch comprising a depressible contact making member, a contact adapted to cooperate therewith, and an adjustable housing having means capable of receiving the end of said member and holding it in spaced relation to the contact.

t. An electrical switch comprising a depressible contact making member, a contact adapted to cooperate therewith and an adj ustable element having means engaging the end of said member to hold said member against said contact and out of engagement therewith, in respective adjusted positions.

The invention according to claim 4, in which the element is adjustable transverselv of the length of said member and provided intermediate of said means with a chamber adapted to receive. and permit vertical movement of, the contact making member.

6. The invention described in claim 1, in which the housing is rotatable and provided with a cam surface capable of forcing the member into engagement with the contact.

7. The invention described in claim 1, in which the housing is rotatable and provided with a shelf capable of receiving the member and holding it in spaced relation to the Contact.

8. The invention described in claim 1, in which the housing is rotatable and provided with a cam surface and a shelf, adapted respectively to hold the member in or out of engagement with the contact.

9. In combination with a tubular Hashlight casing, cooperating contact members normally spaced from each other, and means adjustable transversely of the longitudinal axis of the flashlight casing and adapted to hold the contact members in a plurality of adjusted positions said means comprising a housing having portions of different altitude for receiving one of the contact members.

10. In combination with a portable electric lamp having a casing, a switch comprising cooperating contact members. a housing adapted to receive a portion of one of said members and having a rearward eX-.

tension provided with a transverse slot, and

a plate overlying the rearward extension and secured to the casing by fastening means passing through the slot, said fastening means serving to adjustably secure the housing upon the casing.

l1. The invention described in claim 10, in which the rearward extension is provided with indentations and the plate has a projection adapted to be sprung into any one of said indentations.

12. The combination with an elongated depressible switch element, of an adjustable arcuate plate having one end struck up to form a housing for the reception of one end of said element.

13. The invention described in claim 12, in which the housing is depressed at one side to from a cam surface and at the other has a marginal strip severed on two sides and depressed to provide a shelf extending inwardly of the housing.

14. The invention described in claim 13. in which a second arcuate plate is provided, said plate having means for releasably engaging the first. plate, and means for adjustably retaining the plates together.

15. In combination with a portable electric lamp having a conductive casing, a conductor strip adjacent the inner surface of the casing but insulated therefrom, a contact making member on the exterior of the casing and above said strip, a contact block operatively disposed beneath said member, conductive fastening means connecting the block and strip but insulated from the casing, and similar means passing through but insulated from. the strip and securing the contact making member in conductive relation to the casing.

16. The invention described in claim 15. in which the insulation for the conductive fastening means secures the same in a watertight engagement with the casing.

17. In combination with a watertight, conductive casing containing a. battery. means for closing the circuit through said battery, comprising cooperating contact members secuded to the casing and having insulating means providing a watertight engagement therewith.

18. In combination with a watertight, conductive casing containing a battery and an illuminating device operable thereby, a switch mechanism for closing the circuit through said battery and device. and having exposed contact making parts, means for securing the said parts to the casing, and watertight, insulating means between said securing means and the casing.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signai ture.

LEE J. VOORHEES. 

